An American citizen who had been detained by Egyptian authorities for more than six weeks was found dead in a prison cell.
Egyptian officials gave more detail, saying that the American, James Lunn, had hanged himself from the bathroom door in his cell in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia after being detained during a security sweep in the northern Sinai Peninsula in late August.
The death of Mr. Lunn is sure to raise further concern about the safety of foreign citizens held in Egypt’s jails. Last month, a French citizen arrested for violating an army curfew died while in custody. Egyptian officials said he was beaten to death by his fellow inmates.
A statement from Egypt’s Interior Ministry said that Mr. Lunn had been arrested on Aug. 27 during a security sweep of the northern Sinai following a car bomb attack on a police station. The statement said that Mr. Lunn had been in the area of the attack and was found with “a computer and maps of important facilities.” He was detained.
The State Department did not comment on the cause of death, but earlier a United States Embassy official described it as an “apparent suicide.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/world/middleeast/egyptian-officials-say-american-killed-himself-in-prison.html